sports

More than 24 million people tuned into ITV and the BBC to watch Spain beat England in the Euro 2024 final in July. A month later, Warner Bros. Discovery streamed 3,800 hours of live Olympic competition, consumed by UK and European audiences to the tune of 7 billion minutes.

Clearly, sport still pulls in huge audiences, whether broadcast on linear TV or streamed on platforms such as Discovery+ and Max. But rather than resting on their laurels, platforms are looking to attract the next generation of fans via social media and YouTube.

Once the preserve of petrol heads, Formula 1 has become a hugely popular television sport. On the eve of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, an RTS panel – featuring experts from three broadcasters – discussed how the motor sport has found its va-va-voom.  

The executive chairman of the worldwide sports producer, who was talking at a November RTS Thames Valley event, added: “The last eight months has probably been the most challenging of my career… We are really thankful for BT Sport, our biggest client, who basically said, ‘We want you to be here after this is over and we’re going to keep paying you.’ We’ve come through it now and we’re fine.”

Hosted by RTS Isle of Man, the tour of Greenlight’s facilities offered an insight into how the indie produces highlights of the Isle of Man TT for ITV4 from its production base in Tromode on the Isle of Man.  

The Isle of Man TT, arguably, the world’s most famous motorcycle road race, is run on closed public roads over a 37.73-mile course.

Greenlight produces same-day, hour-long highlight programmes for ITV4 during the fortnight of racing on the Isle of Man in early summer.

Question

Christine Lampard: Do you wake in the morning and decide what you want to rant about that day?

Answer

Piers Morgan: I used to run a daily paper. And the whole point of it was that, every morning, if you’re running a newsroom with 400 people, you have to get them going with your opinions.

So I think it was always in my DNA to be hugely opinionated about absolutely everything. I try to work myself into indignant rages on most subjects.

'I am one vegan sausage-roll wrap from being fired'

Chicago and Minneapolis may not seem like the homes of cutting­edge technology but, on 3 April, they became the world’s first two cities with commercial 5G mobile services serving 5G-enabled smartphones.

The service was launched by US carrier Verizon, keen to beat several Korean rivals to the bragging rights for commercialising 5G first, if only by a few hours.

Two-time Super Bowl winner Osi Umenyiora is on a mission to find a home for American Football in the UK.

After retiring from the sport after thirteen years as a player (most NFL careers typically lasting just three) Osi was in the right place at the right time. Discussions were taking place to take NFL around the world, with a view to putting roots down for an internationally recognised UK-based team.

The visit attracted more than 30 students, recent graduates and people working in an entry-level TV role who benefited from the advice of Sky trainers. Megan Cooper, senior leader at the Sky Academy Careers Lab, organised the event, which included two sessions with Sky talent and a tour of the company’s broadcast facilities and studios.

Sky Sports boxing pundit Spencer Fearon – a former professional fighter whose life went off the rails – drew on his own often difficult experiences in a lively motivational talk.